Our Blog

Eliane Radigue - Geelriandre/Arthesis (2003)

Pausts

Eliane Radigue was born in Paris on January, 24 1932. She studied electroacoustic music techniques at the "Studio d'essai" of the RTF under Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry, later becoming Henry's assistant at the Studio Apsome in 1967 and 1968. She worked for a year at the New York University School of the Arts in 1970. Her music, its source an ARP 2500 synthesizer and medium recording tape, attracted considerable attention for its sensitive, dappled purity. She was in residence at the electronic music studios of the University of Iowa and California Institute of the Arts in 1973. In 1975, Radigue became a disciple of Tibetan Buddhism. After four years of study, she began a large-scale cycle of works based on the life of the 11th century Tibetan master Milarepa. Radigue's music has been performed throughout Europe and the United States. She currently lives in Paris, where she continues to compose electronic music and to study the teachings of the Tibetan lamas.

The first of the two half-hour pieces 'Geelriandre' was made on an ARP Synthesizer in 1972 accompanied by Gérard Fremy on Piano, and finally recorded at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, December 1979. In its 29 minute life-span the world seems to gradually slow down spinning on its axis, everything feels measured to a deeply attuned internal clock. The ARP provides layers of wavering tones which gradually accumulate, dissipate and re-emerge with a subliminal quality while sensitively struck percussion - gongs and other, sharper metallic objects - mark out time with a saintly, opiated patience. Just so so good. Oh man, then there's 'Arthesis' - realised on the Moog Synthesizer at the University of Iowa in 1973, a track which makes you feel like part of your consciousness is folding back into itself. A low, low hum starts out in the left channel before overtones gradually bleed into the right ending with a moebius strip-like circuit. After another 15 minutes or so both channels appear to start swooning in a kind of elliptical syncopation, leaving you utterly transfixed and practically dazed by the end. Hearing these pieces now, in ouro ver-saturated soundsphere, the effect is nothing short of radical and deeply, unforgettably affective. If you're seeking something literally extra-ordinary, which seems to displace time altogether, these pieces will greatly enrich your mind. (boomkat)